Strikes, pay and Easter get blame
RYANAIR have been knocked off course by a triple whammy of turbulence.
The budget airline yesterday blamed a jump in fuel prices, paying pilots more and the timing of Easter for profits nose diving 20 per cent to £285million in the three months to the end of June.
The Irish carrier are sticking with their guidance of landing a full year profit of between £1.1billion and £1.2bn. But analysts warn that might prove a struggle given imminent strikes by staff and air traffic control disruption.
A third walkout by Ireland-based pilots is planned for today, followed by cabin crew stoppages tomorrow and Thursday, affecting 600 flights to and from Spain, Portugal and Belgium.
Unions say Ryanair are hiring staff in those countries under Irish law, rather than under the laws of each country.
Ryanair said yesterday: “While we continue to actively engage with pilot and cabin crew unions across Europe, we expect further strikes over the peak summer months. We are not prepared to concede to unreasonable demands that will compromise either our low fares or highly efficient model.” Ryanair went further, warning they may reduce their winter flights in strike-hit countries, leading to job cuts. The airline, headed by maverick boss Michael O’Leary, O’Leary says grew passenger numbers by 9 strikes are threat to jobs per cent to 37.6million in the past three months. That was despite them cancelling more than 2,500 flights because of air traffic controller shortages in the UK, Germany and Greece, and strikes in France. Costs were pushed up by a jump in jet fuel prices and a 20 per cent pay rise for pilots after last year’s rostering fiasco. Ryanair’s average fare dropped 4 per cent but it made 25 per cent more from “ancillary revenues” like priority boarding and food. The airline repeated warnings about what would happen if the UK crashes out of the EU next March, throwing the continuation of flights into chaos. “We believe the risk of a hard Brexit is being underestimated,” they said. The number of firms in “significant” trouble have risen 9 per cent in a year. Business recovery experts Begbies Traynor found 472,183 companies were suffering “financial distress” at the end of June. The figure was higher than a year ago, but down 1 per cent on the first three months of 2018. Areas seeing the biggest rise were “support services”, up 10 per cent, property 19 per cent and telecoms 9 per cent. ■■ An entertainment firm are hoping a chain of Doctor Who-themed “escape rooms” will prove out of this world.
Escape Hunt have four sites in the UK – and 42 worldwide – where teams of players are locked in a room and given a time limit to crack a series of clues.
Now they have struck a five-year deal with BBC Studios to give some a Doctor Who concept, starting with one in Bristol, in a bid to exterminate any competition.